John Lennon 约翰•列侬

John Lennon was born on October 9th 1940 in Liverpool. He was killed on December 8th 1980 in New York.
约翰•列侬在1940年10月9日出生于利物浦，他在1980年12月8日在纽约被谋杀。

Why is he famous? 为什么他很有名？

Lennon was a member of The Beatles, one of the most successful bands in history. Together with Paul McCartney he wrote numerous famous songs and albums, many of which are named in ‘Best’ lists.
列侬是历史上最有名的乐队披头士的成员，他和保罗麦卡特尼一起创作了很多经典的歌曲和专辑，其中一大部分都被列入了各种各样的“最佳”清单。

After The Beatles split Lennon had a successful solo career.
披头士解散后，列侬单飞生涯也很成功。

He was a noted anti-war activist.
他也是一名积极的反战分子。

Lennon was made an MBE in 1964, but gave it back in 1969.
列侬在1964年获得了英国帝国勋章获得者，但是在1969年归还了勋章。

His murder by Mark Chapman in 1980 made news around the world.
他在1980年被美国演员马克•查普曼谋杀，事件震惊了全世界。

The Beatles

What is his mark on history? 他在历史上的主要地位是怎么样的？

Many of the songs Lennon wrote, both with McCartney and on his own, remain famous to this day.
许多列侬创作的歌曲，无论是他自己的或者和麦卡特尼合作的，都迄今都为人所熟知。

‘Beatlemania’, the name given to the huge popularity the Beatles received in the 1960s, was a major part of pop and rock’n’roll wave that moved music into the ‘modern’ era.
60年代披头士因其超人的人气创造了“披头士狂”这样的新词汇，组合是流行和摇滚音乐进入新时代的重要推动力量。

The changes in style The Beatles went through during their career, from rock’n’roll to ‘hippy’ pyschedelica, remains a blueprint for many bands shifting their styles as they age.
披头士在组合的音乐生涯中风格上的变化，从摇滚到嬉皮士迷幻摇滚，是很多乐队在年龄变大之后转变风格的蓝图模板。

In 2002 Lennon was voted the 8th Greatest Briton of all time by a nationwide poll in the UK.
2002年，在一次全英国的票选中，列侬被选为了历史上最伟大的英国人第八位。

John Lennon in New York

Notes 备注

Lennon’s family life, both as a child and an adult, were messy. His father, a merchant seaman, left the family but later returned, causing strife in his family (his mother had become pregnant with another man by the time his father returned). Lennon also lived with aunt for a while, and his mum was killed by a car when he was 17.
列侬的家庭生活，童年和成人后，都是一团糟。他的父亲是一个商船水手，早先离家出走过，后来回归，给家庭造成了许多麻烦事（列侬的母亲在他回来前已经和另外一个男人怀上了孩子）列侬也和自己的阿姨一起住过一段时间，17岁时，他的母亲在车祸里去世。

Lennon himself married Cynthia Powell in 1962 after she became pregnant with his child, only to dump her for Yoko Ono in 1968. The relationship with Yoko Ono, and Paul McCartney’s own marriage issues, resulted in The Beatles breaking up. Ono is often labelled ‘the woman who broke up The Beatles’.
列侬在1962年娶辛西娅鲍尔为妻，后者当时已经怀了他的孩子，1968年列侬抛弃鲍尔和日本艺术家小野洋子结婚。和小野洋子的关系，以及麦卡特尼自己的婚姻问题，最后导致披头士解散，洋子也一直被人称为是“那个拆散披头士的女人”。

Lennon moved to Manhattan in 1971. His popularity and anti-war stance made President Richard Nixon keen to have him deported.
列侬在1971年搬到了曼哈顿，他的受欢迎程度以及反战思想，让理查德尼克松总统急切的希望将他驱逐出境。

John Lennon was a terrible student. He failed all his O-levels and got thrown out of college for failing exams. He was also seen as a troublemaker, so much so that Paul McCartney’s parents didn’t want Paul socializing with Lennon.
列侬在学校里是一个差生，他在所有普通水平考试中都失败了，并且因此被逐出学校，他同时也是一个爱惹麻烦的年轻人，因此保罗麦卡特尼的父母甚至不希望儿子和他交往。

His aunt, Mimi, once told a young Lennon ‘The guitar is all very well, John, but you’ll never make a living out of it.’
列侬的阿姨，米米，曾经告诉小列侬，“吉他是个很棒的乐器，约翰，但是你不可能拿他来养活自己。”